Reinventing Economic Partnerships And Infrastructure Redevelopment Act or the REPAIR Act This bill addresses the financing of infrastructure projects through the establishment of the Infrastructure Financing Authority (IFA) and increases the national limitation on the amount of tax-exempt highway or surface freight transfer facility bonds. Specifically, the bill directs the IFA to provide direct loans and loan guarantees to facilitate certain infrastructure projects that are economically viable, in the public interest, and of regional or national significance, including the construction, consolidation, alteration, or repair of airports and air traffic control systems, highway facilities, and transmission or distribution pipelines; sets forth terms and limitations on direct loans and loan guarantees; establishes a funding mechanism to make the IFA a self-sustaining entity, including through fees and risk premiums on loans and loan guarantees; and increases from $15 billion to $16 billion the national limitation on the amount of tax-exempt financing for highway or surface freight transfer facilities.
USTR Inspector General Act of 2021 This bill requires the President to appoint an Inspector General of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Among other responsibilities, the Inspector General shall (1) conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of the USTR, (2) recommend policies for preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in those programs, and (3) provide a means for keeping the USTR and Congress informed about problems and deficiencies in those programs and operations.
Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2021 This bill addresses the management and conservation of forage fish. The Department of Commerce must issue a definition for the term forage fish . It must consider certain factors in defining such term, including whether a species covered by the definition (1) is at a low trophic level; (2) is generally small to intermediate-sized; (3) occurs in schools or other dense aggregations; (4) contributes significantly to the diets of other fish, marine mammals, or birds; and (5) serves as a conduit for energy transfer to species at a higher trophic level. Commerce must also establish guidelines to assist regional fishery management councils in (1) developing a list of unmanaged forage fish areas and prohibiting the development of any new forage fish fisheries until the potential impacts of such fisheries have been assessed; and (2)setting annual catch limits for forage fish fisheries that assess, specify, and reduce such limits by the diet needs of other fish species and marine wildlife. The bill adds shad (American shad and hickory shad)and river herring (blueback herring and alewife)to the list of managed stocks for the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2021 This bill allows a qualified individual to carry a concealed handgun into or possess a concealed handgun in another state that allows its residents to carry concealed firearms. A qualified individual must (1) be eligible to possess, transport, or receive a firearm under federal law; (2) carry a valid photo identification document; and (3) carry a valid state-issued concealed carry permit, or be eligible to carry a concealed firearm in his or her state of residence.
Child Abuse Death Disclosure Act This bill requires states receiving child welfare grants to report specified information about child deaths from maltreatment. Specifically, multidisciplinary teams from within the child welfare system in each state must make a finding concerning the causes of each child fatality during the annual review period; submit such findings to the Child Death Review Case Reporting System; develop recommendations to prevent future child deaths from maltreatment; submit annual reports with this information to the state’s governor and legislature; and if the number of child deaths in a state exceeds an established threshold, submit a report to the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families. Further, the Children’s Bureau must promulgate rules establishing standardized definitions for states to use in such reporting.
Railroad Crossing Elimination Act This bill establishes a competitive grant program within the Department of Transportation (DOT) for projects to improve highway-rail grade crossings. In carrying out the program, DOT must cooperate with the Federal Railroad Administration. Specifically, DOT must award the grants to state, tribal, or local governments, public port authorities, metropolitan planning organizations, or a consortia of such entities. Grant recipients may use funds for planning and implementation of projects involving grade separation or closure, track relocation, or other means to improve the mobility of people and goods at highway-rail grade crossings.
Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021 or the CONNECT for Health Act of 2021 This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. Among other provisions, the bill allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to waive certain restrictions, such as restrictions on the types of technology that may be used; permanently removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) and allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services; permanently allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner); and allows the CMS to generally waive coverage restrictions during any public health emergency. Additionally, the CMS must report on the effects of expanded telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency, including with respect to the utilization, quality, and outcomes of services. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation may also test alternative payment models relating to expanded telehealth services.
Protecting Access to Affordable Medicines Act of 2021 This bill prohibits additional rebates for certain drugs under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. Specifically, the bill prohibits additional rebates with respect to noninnovator multiple-source drugs (i.e., generics) for which the average manufacturer price is less than $1.
Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act This bill includes veterans who participated in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1980, as radiation-exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers. Under a presumption of service-connection, specific conditions diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded.
This concurrent resolution (1) affirms, on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slave ship, that the nation owes a debt of remembrance not only to those who lived through the injustices of slavery but also to their descendants; and (2) urges the establishment of a U.S. Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation to properly acknowledge, memorialize, and be a catalyst for progress, including toward permanently eliminating persistent racial inequities.
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment declaring that women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. The amendment prohibits the United States or any state from denying or abridging equal rights under the law on account of sex.
This resolution honors the life and legacy of Carl Lutz, who, as a Swiss diplomat serving in Hungary, saved more than 50,000 Jews during World War II.
